SPIDERS. 195 



like the spokes of a wheel, and these connected by a 

 spiral line, which at a little distance gives the appear- 

 ance of lines arranged in circles from the center out- 

 wards. Some kinds of Spider have, near the principal 

 web, a silken retreat, or den, where the owner hides 

 till the quivering spider lines which run into its office 

 telegraph the fact that a fly has become entangled; 

 instantly the spider rushes out of its retreat, pounces 

 upon the victim, and bites it, if possible, putting into 

 the wound a fatal poison. If the insect is too power- 

 ful for the spider, the latter waits till the insect gets 

 more entangled, and finally exhausted, by its efforts to 

 escape, then binds it with silken bands, and begins to 

 devour it. The bite of an ordinary spider will kill a 

 fly ; the bite of some of the large kinds in South 

 America kills the humming bird. The female spiders 

 lay eggs and inclose them in silken sacs. Some kinds 

 carry the egg-sac about with them ; others spin it in a 

 safe place, and, in some instances, stay near to guard 

 it, and to tear open the egg-sac as soon as the young 

 are hatched, that they may escape. One of the most 

 curious of these egg-sacs is that shown in Figure 341, 



Fig. 341. — Egg'Case of a Spicier (ihe Vase-malcer). 



and which was made by some Spider which may 

 properly be called the Vase-maker. Two " vases," like 

 the one in the woodcut, were found standing about a 



